My Boyfriend II: Shadows of the Heart
by The Invader Androgynous
Summary: One week ago, Hevn ended her false relationship to begin a genuine one. However, as Akabane's former mediator enters the picture, she finds herself wondering if she's really doing the right thing. Where does love end and loneliness begin?
1. World's Destinations

Hevn sighed and flipped listlessly through a magazine entitled "World's Destinations," which seemed a cruel magazine to keep in a hospital waiting room. Every page seemed splashed with a different beautiful, exotic destination, as if to tauntingly say either "You are too sick to go here," or "If you weren't sick, you'd be here." Taken at their very meanest, the glossy pages sneered "If you weren't paying off hospital bills, you could go here."

She set the magazine down and looked at her silver watch. "He's late, as usual," she sighed, running a hand through now shoulder-length blonde hair. She hadn't wanted to cut so much off, but it had been necessary to remove all the burned parts.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Hevn-san. I am usually _so_ punctual. If I had known it would upset you, I would have ripped out the tubes with my bare hands."

She looked over her shoulder and sighed at Akabane, who was leaning over the back of the plastic bench. His hair was as wild as ever, draped around his face in a way that made her wonder how he fit it all under his hat. His skin was a bit off-color, but she could not tell if that was his usual paleness or if his hospital stay had drained him of what little color he had. "I can tell by the sarcastic tone in your voice that you're already feeling better," she said, standing up. "And you're right, this is the first time I've seen you in a week that you haven't had some kind of tube in you."

The hospital had insisted on keeping him far longer than they usually would keep a patient with his condition, but the fact that they could not pinpoint why an artery wall would suddenly nearly burst on someone as young and healthy as he appeared to be had made them hesitant to release him. They'd been giving him the run-around, pulling every genetic disorder test they could out of the book, and yet had found nothing. At times, Hevn had watched the frustration on their faces and had wished she could tell them what had happened, but she knew that revealing Akabane's abilities would only lead to more trouble than they were already putting him through.

He looked up at the nurse, holding the back of the chair. "I really do not need a wheelchair. I can walk."

"Hospital policy," she informed him shortly, then looked up at Hevn. "Are you… the one who is driving him home?" The pause in the woman's voice made Hevn suspect that she was going to ask about their relationship, but then had realized that would also be against hospital policy.

She nodded, and then turned her attention back to Akabane, who was folding wrinkles out of the hat lying in his lap. "Stop being so stubborn," she said. "Enjoy soaking up the sympathy of being an invalid for a little while." She took hold of the back of the wheelchair and started pushing, her heels clack-clack-clacking on the marble floor. "So, what did your doctor say?"

"He said that they could not find the cause of my sudden illness no matter how hard they looked."

She looked away, even though his face was already turned away from hers. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Do not be, Mi- Hevn. I did what I wanted to do," he paused in his speech, "and I have no regrets."

She found herself blushing. His comments could range between so cold and cutting that she could not believe she would ever want to talk to him again, and so sweet that she wanted to melt into his warm arms. Strangely, he seemed to know just how to balance the sweet with the sour to keep her from getting too angry or frustrated with him, and yet get just enough bitterness that she truly did not become comfortable in his presence. It was… well, he knew when to be strong and he knew when to be soft, and his judgment on those issues rarely ever wavered.

Along those lines, while he had been in the hospital she had really not been given the chance to explore their budding relationship. It had been impossible to get as much as a kiss without someone suddenly popping into the room. Sometimes, that someone was one of Akabane's co-workers. He did not exactly have _friends_ among the transporters, but he had a few drivers who were worried that his prolonged absence could result in them losing job opportunities. The main problem, however, had been that one head nurse who always seemed to be around whenever Hevn was around, and seemed to have made it her mission to make sure that she could jump into the room and shout "The patient is not up for horseplay!" whenever she got so much as close to an intimate moment.

In her head, she had an image of herself, surrounded by shimmering drops of light, in a drop-dead gorgeous nurse's uniform. She was holding a little spoon. "The patient needs to take his medicine! Say ah!" she was saying. Her eyes glimmered with little starts of beginning romance. She couldn't wait to get home…

When they arrived back at the apartment, what she found herself saying in actuality was, "Stop itching yourself down there. It looks gross, and it can't be good for your wound."

"I am sorry, Hevn-san. They made the incision through the groin muscle, and my hair is just growing back and it itches," he complained, sitting sideways on the mat. Hevn sighed inwardly to herself and nearly collapsed onto the radiator with frustration. She had been expecting living with him… to be a little sexier. The idea that he might do unrefined things stereotypical of men, such as scratch himself, had never crossed her mind before. It just didn't seem like he was capable of being uncouth. After all, he had never been anything but a gentleman while her parents had been around.

"You're going to irritate your stitches if you keep doing that," Hevn informed him. "You're rubbing germs from your clothes into the cut."

"Sah, I suppose you are right. Perhaps I should wash it," he commented, switching over to dully poking it with one finger. The wound itself itched, and he was having a hard time convincing himself not to scratch it. Unfortunately, it seemed, not even super-healing abilities could make a wound less scratchy.

His comments made Hevn's ears perk up, causing her to lift her head and smile. Finally, she would get some real sexy nurse and sick patient interaction. She'd spent the whole week he had been in the hospital longing to further their relationship. It was about time something finally went her way.

"I can wash your back," she volunteered.

He raised a suspicious eyebrow at her. "In the shower?" he asked. For the first time in her life, Hevn regretted having put in a showerhead.

"I suppose you're right," she agreed with a slight pout. "I was only trying to be helpful."

"Thank you, Hevn-san, but after a week of having strangers attempting to give me sponge baths I think I will rather enjoy taking a hot shower by myself."

"Well, okay," she said, getting some terrycloth towels out of the closet for him. "Toss your dirty clothes out here and I'll get your pajamas ready for you."

"Thank you, Hevn-san," he smiled, taking the towels from her. She leaned over, intending to give him a quick kiss on the cheek as he swept past… and got a face full of door, as he had not seen her gesture and had shut the door behind himself.

She drew away and made a sour face at the closed barrier. How one man could be so suave, so seemingly romantic, so charming in every little movement of his body and at the same time be so utterly blind when it came to actual romance, she had no idea. She guessed it was just a symptom of his having the unfortunate luck to have been born male.

She was lying on the floor futon, reading out of a newspaper by soft light, when he finally emerged from the bathroom. He was wearing a light blue yukata, one that she had purchased him. "It looks good on you!" she smiled, patting the bed beside her. In truth, she was just glad that he would wear something she had picked out for him.

He itched his stomach and looked at her over the top of his black-frame glasses, flicking a strand of wet hair over his shoulder. "I have wet hair," he said. The sentence dropped off without being finished, but she knew the entire sentence was supposed to have been 'I have wet hair, so I can not join you in bed now.'

"So wrap it up in a towel. No point in you sitting up and shivering when I've already warmed up the bed," she said, continuing to stroke the empty spot next to her.

Slightly reluctantly, he joined her under the covers. "What's wrong, Akabane-san?" she asked, concern radiating in her yellow eyes. Had she done something to offend him? "You never used to hesitate before getting into my bed when we were pretending to be engaged."

"It was just pretend then, Hevn-san. I feel a bit odd sharing a bed with you now that we are not playing make-believe."

She choked back a laugh, not wanting for it to seem like she was mocking his concerns. Akabane was so absolutely gentlemanly. Of course she should have realized that a gentleman would be hesitant to sleep in the bed of a lady to whom he was not married. "It's okay. I promise to keep my hands off you, even if you are tempting." She realized that he had blushed ever so slightly. She did not know whether to be secretly pleased that she got to see his cute embarrassed face or kick herself for being too aggressive towards someone who seemed more comfortable with old-fashioned notions of courtship. "I'm only kidding. Snuggle?" she asked, holding out her arms.

He eyed her as though contemplating whether she had rabies, and then reluctantly let his shoulders down from their tensed-up position. "If you insist, Hevn-s…"

"Hevn is fine, but Hevn-san is just fine, too," she smiled, holding out her arms. "Come on."

A small moment of surprise washed through her when he put his head on her chest, wrapping his arms around her waist and shutting his eyes. This was different. In Hevn's experience, she was the one who got to lie with her head on her boyfriend's chest, her arms around his waist. Sometimes, she would even put her hands on her boyfriend's broad shoulders just to feel some comfort in how strong he was, and how protective being in his embrace was. She never had a boyfriend that had gone straight for being embraced instead of being the one to be embraced before.

Still, he looked very beautiful with his eyes closed, and she felt her confusion and slight irritation at his improper handling of the situation drifting away. Perhaps he just really liked breasts. She knew lots of men who would have paid good money to be able to sleep with their head on top of her chest. She reached down, gently brushing a small section of damp black hair out of his face. "Silly boy, you forgot to take off your glasses," she whispered, removing them and placing them neatly beside the bed before turning off the lights and falling to a deep sleep herself.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, even though she knew he was too asleep to listen, "about the fact that we can't tell anyone about our secret?" She pulled the blankets up around his chin, smiling. "We can worry about it later. Goodnight." With that, she put out the lamp and lay down to sleep.

If Hevn had known the storm that was about to brew across town at the Transporter's bar, she might have held even tighter to Akabane as they slept on that first night. Two drivers were having a conversation that would unwittingly mark the start of the battle.

"Rumor has it that Dr. Jackal is out of the hospital now."

Across from them, a pair of ears perked up. Saya Tanokuru smiled, showing off teeth that looked as though someone had filed the incisors into fangs. The smile was predatory, like a wolf overhearing that the door to the lamb's cage had been left open. That smile said, 'Poor little wounded Jackal. Perhaps I should pay him a _friendly_ visit.'

"I heard. Did you also hear he's been hanging around an absolute babe of a mediator? What was her name again? Angel?"

"I know. Wah, a girl like her! Gorgeous," the other driver lamented. "If I had a babe like that…"

"Well, I guess he won't be needing his old mediator anymore, that's for sure!" the other driver laughed.

"Yeah, we were starting to worry about him!" his partner in conversation agreed.

"Excuse me, but what did you just say?" The two drivers jumped as the eavesdropper was suddenly standing beside their table, staring down at them.

"The- the Cat!" the offender whimpered, shrinking down in his seat. "What a surprise! I had no idea you were here."

Saya, otherwise known as The Cat, frowned. "Of course you didn't," the wavy-haired brunette spat. "Or else you would not have chosen to insult me in my presence." The two drivers squirmed as far away as they could without leaving their chairs. The Cat was known for unpredictable behavior when angered.

Saya swiped one of the men's drinks, sipping thoughtfully on it. "I think you had better think harder, and remember her name for me."

"She-she's a retrieval mediator! Something to do with angels! He-Hevn-san!" he cried finally, happy with himself for remembering. Saya looked over the top of the glass at him and finished downing the drink.

Saya set the empty cup down. "Had I finished before you remembered, The Cat would have had your tongue," Saya smirked, showing off hands that ended like claws. "If she thinks she's taking my best transporter away from me, she's wrong- dead wrong." With that, the door slammed loudly as the mediator vanished out into the night.

"It's true," the drink less driver muttered. "The hearing of a cat."

"And the temper of one," the other driver said.


	2. Mediation

(I am a bad, bad little fangirl. I forgot to credit Cyndy1 for beta reading and detail work, among assorted duties.)

"Are you sure you're up to this?" Hevn asked, concern filling her voice and making it seem higher-pitched than usual.

"Please, I do not need to be babied. The doctor said I could walk as much as I like until I am up to my usual level of activity." Akabane hesitated on the stairs, eyes suddenly turning cold. "I would not need any recovery time if they had not kept me on my back for a week. So inept…" he said mostly to himself, following Hevn down the stairs of her apartment complex.

Hevn found herself involuntarily shivering, as if his cold voice were a wind cutting through her clothes. "Okay, but remember that we have to come back from wherever we go, so don't use all your energy at once." She looked up at him, sill moving stiffly down the stairs. His muscles were protesting after having had a lazy week off.

He was wearing his usual black slacks with a long-sleeved white button-down shirt, but she had convinced him to leave the jacket at home. She had also managed to convince him that dress shoes were not appropriate for taking a leisurely stroll around the block, but only barely. Apparently, Akabane had never even considered putting comfort before style before.

"I will be fine, Hevn-sa… Hevn." She noticed he'd bit his tongue in an attempt to keep the san from coming out. She shook her head in his general direction.

"The fact that you've gotten over calling me Miss Mediator is good enough for now."

The two started walking, Hevn trying to let Akabane choose the direction and the pace, but Akabane consistently lagging just far enough behind her that she was forced to determine both. In her frustration, she just chose any direction to go without caring which way they walked. In her haste, she walked towards the alley where she had nearly met her death so few days before.

As they passed by the opening mouth of the alley, Hevn involuntarily stopped. She felt cold, like a deer frozen in white headlights. Her hands trembled, her heart roaring in her chest. She tried to cry out with any sound, but choked on her swollen and dry tongue.

As suddenly as they had come, the sensations were gone. Hevn looked down, realizing that Akabane's hand was tightly closed around hers. She found herself holding tightly to his hand in return, as though his touch could protect her.

She calmed down after a moment, gazing up into purple eyes filled with an unreadable expression. She wanted to thank him so deeply, but instead of the words "Why are you wearing gloves?" tumbled out.

He looked down at his hands in confusion. He hadn't been aware of them. "Force of habit, I guess?"

Stupid, stupid, stupid, Hevn thought, smacking herself in the forehead when Akabane wasn't looking. Way to throw a perfect moment out the window!

"Do they bother you, Hevn-san? I can take them off if they do."

She paused in mid-smack, a smile creeping slowly across her face. Perhaps as soon as they returned home, she'd mention his pants bothering her. "It does seem a little odd for you to be wearing them when you're not in your work clothes," she said, for lack of better answer.

She was watching him pull the gloves off, shivering with each snap of the latex, when very suddenly she felt a strong impact against her body. In the next moment, she found herself smashed up against the wall of the nearest building.

She'd been body-checked by what appeared to be a brunette in a hideous purple hat and trench coat. The newcomer was standing directly in front of Akabane and smiling. From the look on Akabane's face, not only was he surprised to see this particular individual, but he had not seen the newcomer slam into her.

"Akabane-san, why haven't you called me in two weeks? You think clients magically go on hold when you don't feel like working?" Saya was avoiding mentioning knowing Akabane had been hospitalized. That would lead to a question of why Saya had not visited him in the hospital.

"I told you I was away, Saya-san," Akabane answered very quietly, his voice barely a whisper. His hands were moving around, attempting to subconsciously tug down a hat he wasn't wearing. Hevn was now beyond confused. Akabane not only knew this lavender freak, but seemed uncomfortable in the weirdo's presence.

"Well, now that you're back, let's go. The clients were beginning to worry!" The freak grasped Akabane's hand and began tugging him down the street a little at a time, despite the fact that Akabane seemed to have rather firmly planted his feet in place.

Hevn stormed up to them, hitting the newcomer's hands with her purse to free Akabane's wrist. "Hold it right there, sister! What do you think you're doing? Dragging around an injured man like that…"

The stranger growled deeply. "Sister? I am not your _sister!"_

Akabane grabbed the newcomer by the shoulders, startling Saya out of the anger kick. "Hevn-san, this is Saya-san, my usual mediator," he introduced, releasing Saya's shoulder. "Saya-san is a bit touching about being called a girl because of his name."

Hevn could only stare at Saya. She could see absolutely nothing about the stranger's features that indicated a boy lay under that ridiculous pastel outfit. The height, the frame build, the musculature… nothing.

"Saya-san, this is…"

"I don't need an introduction. She's the Shinjuku mediator for those homeless retrievers who have cost you more than a fair share of jobs. I suppose she has a _few_ classier clients, but she's associated with them."

"You know I enjoy working against the Get Backers, even when I lose. You get paid anyway, Saya-san." Akabane turned to Hevn. "Saya-san has a crush on Shido-kun," he said, referencing Saya's comment about Hevn having a few classy clients.

"Shido… kun?" Hevn asked. Hadn't Akabane just said Saya was a boy?

Quickly, hating a conversation that focused on his own shortcomings, Saya commented," I suppose she does a good job, seeing as how she uses her big breasts to get jobs instead of any real mediating talent."

At that point, Hevn was shaking an internally fuming to the point where she was ready to explode like a teakettle boiled dry. Her hands were curled into fists. "Now listen here, you-"

"What should I listen to? You trying to justify taking my best resource? I won't let him go without a fight!" With that, the young man vanished in less than the blink of an eye.

"What… was that?" she asked, still slightly rage-shocked.

"I am very sorry. Saya-san does not usually behave like that. I will have to talk with him later."

Hevn's hands closed and opened, alternating between empty claws and fists. "How can you put up with someone like that? He called you a resource, like you were paper or pens instead of a human being!"

Akabane made a sound that Hevn couldn't interpret and looked away, eyes refusing to meet hers. Sudden confusion and guilt washed over her. She shouldn't have shouted at him. He seemed to feel bad enough that Saya had been an ass. She was probably just making him feel worse.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Hevn-san, let us go home. I suddenly feel very tired." He turned around and began walking back in the direction of the apartment, Hevn following silently behind with her eyes turned down to her shoes. He walked about two blocks before suddenly stopping, almost causing her to run into his back. "Am I, Hevn-san?"

"Are you what?" she asked, confused. She wasn't connecting his current words with the words spoken before.

"A human being," he answered, suddenly starting walking again. His pace had increased noticeably.

The two walked the rest of the distance in silence, taking the long way around the block so that Hevn could avoid having to cross in front of that alley again. It would be a long time before she would be able to pass it without shuddering. After all, it was where her own sister had attempted to murder her.

Her life had been worth nothing more to her sister than the price of the family inheritance. In jail, Marci still refused to admit any wrongdoing, instead placing the blame for her actions on the notion that their parents had always loved and favored their blonde-baby Hevn over her. That left Hevn silently wondering if maybe Marci was right, if the fact that their parents had always favored her had driven Marci to murder. She also found herself wondering how much her life was worth to the others around her, including her parents… including Akabane.

As the two were walking up the stairs in silence, a suddenly compulsion overtook her. She knew she had to act on it, or she'd be kicking herself for the rest of the evening. She ran up the stairs, grabbing him from behind and wrapping her arms around her chest as she buried her face between his shoulder blades. "Don't be mad at me. I'm sorry. It's just that, that Saya really pushed my buttons."

He paused and put his hands over hers. "Saya-san is very dangerous, Hevn-san. I do not want to see you get hurt. I will talk to him about it tomorrow, after he has had a chance to calm down. He thinks you have taken his place as my mediator. He will calm down when I tell him that is not true." His hands were lying over hers. She could hear his breaths as she rested against him.

"What are you going to tell him, Akabane-san? We can't tell him the truth. As much as they support me, Ban and Ginji would never understand, and-"

"And there are people out there besides Saya who would hurt you. People who would hurt you just to get to me. I understand, Hevn-san. I will think of something that will satisfy Saya, or-"

"Or?"

"Nevermind, Hevn-san." He turned around and smiled at her, but his smile was weak. "Everything will be okay."

Somewhere else in the vast city that is Tokyo, Saya lay on his bed, chewing on the end of a chocolate wafer candy. Sure, he had talked big when he'd been putting down Jackal's new mediator, but that did not mean he actually knew how he was going to get Akabane back. What did she have that he didn't have? Well, that Akabane would want, that was. She had a body that most men would give their left arms to sleep with, but Akabane was not one of those men.

Saya's initial impression had been that Akabane would leave her as soon as she was no longer "new" and "fun"… and then he'd found out that Akabane had apparently been observed spending large amounts of time with her since two weeks ago, and he had showed absolutely no sign of even beginning to become bored with her when Saya had dropped in on them that afternoon. His previous toys had never lasted more than ten days. What did this woman have that made her different?

Saya looked down at his notebook, covered in doodles. His current "To Do" list read only two things. One, crush the woman who had stolen his best transporter away from him. Two, crush the transporter to the point where he would never even think of leaving again. "But how am I going to do that?" he muttered out loud. Dr. Jackal was much too strong to go up against physically, and he could only imagine the hell that he would have to pay if he used any sort of brute force tactics against the woman.

"Of course," Saya said to himself, as it helped him to think out loud. "Who says I have to fight him physically?" Almost no one knew Dr. Jackal better than Saya did. Almost no one had seen so many of his vulnerable spots. "That's my advantage over her," Saya declared, sitting upright. "She can't possibly know all the things about Jackal that I do. I'm going to twist her mind until it snaps," he smiled, breaking a wafer in half, "like a twig."

Night came and left, and the next morning a phone call awakened Hevn. It was a job for a retrieval agency. Guess it was time to get back in the swing of working, Hevn mused. She'd taken a long enough vacation. Leaving a hastily scribbled note for Akabane, she departed.

The familiar sound of the overhead bell at the Honky Tonk was a sound Hevn discovered that she had missed. That same background song that always seemed to be playing when she visited reached her ears. She knew that song so well; it had been etched into her heart right next to the place she kept for the Get Backers.

"Hevn-san!" Ginji cried, waving his arms at her. He was beyond delighted to see her again. "You've come back!"

She smiled at Ginji, and then turned her attention to the frazzled looking brunette of the pair. "My parents said they would be sending you an appreciation gift for saving their lives. I suggested cash would be most appreciated."

"Oh, we received their gift all right- but it was in American funds! The bank socked us a 20 fee to exchange it for yen, and that was only after we had to convince them that the money wasn't actually stolen!" he shouted.

"That sounds like my daddy, all right. He'd know that if he sent you the reward in yen, he'd be the one paying the exchange fee."

"Does it matter which of us pays the fee?" Ginji asked, innocently.

"Yes," Ban and Hevn answered in unison. Hevn sighed and explained it calmly to Ginji, as one would a child. "If daddy pays the fee, the amount he sends you looks smaller than the amount he actually spent. If you pay the fee, the amount he sent you looks bigger than the amount you actually receive. Daddy is a businessman, after all… just like Ban."

"Don't compare me to your father," he shouted defiantly, shaking the glass of water he had in his hand.

"My, my, and after I came to bring you a job, too. I guess I will take it to Shido-kun, who will be more appreciative of my hard work…" she turned to leave and found something approximately three feet tall clinging to her leg.

"Don't leave, Hevn-san!" the tare-Ginji wibbled. "You've been gone so long, I've forgotten what food tastes like," he sniffled, big tears running down his lumpy face.

"Don't say such ridiculous things," Ban said, smashing tare-Ginji in on the head. Ginji fell over, stars in his eyes and a hair pink bump coming out of his head where he'd been struck. "We've found more than our share of jobs while Hevn has been slacking off!"

"Slacking… off? _Slacking off? _Excuse me, but I was just almost murdered by my own sister! I think I was entitled to a little time off!" She turned heel angrily, her purse swinging around and coming within centimeters of causing massive damage to Ban's masculinity. "I really AM taking this job to Shido!" she fumed.

"Now you've really done it, Ban-chan," Ginji muttered as Hevn slammed the door so hard that loose plaster shook down from the walls.

A black cloud seemed to be hanging over her head the entire way to Madoka's mansion, to the point where even the dirty old men that normally made comments about her bust size were afraid to cross her. As she approached the front gate, several of Shido's animal friends fled in terror.

A servant brought her inside, where she greeted Madoka. "Shido-kun went out to get some sauce for the barbeque," Madoka said brightly. Her hands were covered in bandages and her smile was filled with such love that Hevn instantly knew what Madoka had been up to… cooking again.

As if reading her thoughts, Madoka suddenly smiled. "Would you like to try some of the okonomiyaki? I made them while waiting for Shido to return," she said, her smile still full of love. Hevn was caught between a rock and a hard place. While Madoka's food was full of love, no amount of practice seemed capable of making it full of taste. She also knew that, even though the girl was blind, she seemed to have a psychic ability of knowing when people had only pretended to eat what she had offered them.

"I… wouldn't want to impede on your meal…"

"You won't! Just try one!" she said, somewhat pleading.

"All… right…" Hevn said, picking up what resembled a thick pancake from the plate of offerings. The things I do for me job, she thought as she downed the offering in as few bites as possible. She'd try to get her antacid bottle open later when Madoka was out of hearing. "Huh… what kind of fixings did you use in this… Madoka-chan…" she said slowly, turning a bit green around the eyes.

"Well, the name means cooking what one likes, so I put a little bit of everyone one of Shido's favorite foods in there. Squid, carrots, crab, peas…" the girl continued listing off, turning Hevn greener and greener each time the list added another five ingredients.

Just when Hevn thought she couldn't take it any longer, Shido arrived back with the beef for the barbeque. She ended up being invited to stay, an invitation she had eagerly taken them up on. She hadn't exactly been eating well during her parents visit or her vigil at Akabane's bedside.

"This is so nice," she sighed, nibbling on meat-on-a-stick. "Ban and Ginji never offer me anything like this when I come to offer them a job."

"Huh," Shido snorted. "The snake bastard doesn't know how to appreciate their mediator."

Hevn set her picked-empty stick down. "The client needs to have a set of ancient maps retrieved from a greedy collector, who had them intercepted before they could arrive at their new museum home." She pulled out her bag, laying out the relevant information from him. Behind both her and Shido, the shrubbery was beginning to wilt from having Madoka's okonomiyaki chucked into them. Both were hoping the girl's keen senses wouldn't detect that the smell of the baked goods lingered around even after they were supposedly devoured.

"Are there any other questions you have?" Hevn asked as Shido folded the information into his back pocket.

"If I think of any before I leave tonight, I will notify you."

Hevn paused for a moment, and then pressed forward. "Shido, you seem like the right person to ask about this. What do you know about The Cat?"

He looked surprised to hear that name, and she did not know if that was because of the person attached to it or because it was a name that she would not have been expected to know under normal circumstances.

"He's a transporter mediator with abilities similar to my Hundred-Beast-Imitation: Cat. Beyond that, I don't know anything. I have only heard of him because I have an interest in trying to find if those with powers similar to mine exist, but the nature of our abilities seems to be fundamentally different. Is that okay, Miss Mediator?"

"It's a start," she said, standing up and bowing politely. "I leave this retrieval job in your capable hands." There was nothing to do now but wait to collect her standard Mediator's fee. She hadn't gotten much information out of him, but at least now she knew what abilities to look out for should they meet again. She made a sour face. The Cat, it sounded so cliché. Why would Akabane want a mediator with a ridiculous power like that?

She did feel kind of bad about leaving Ban and Ginji high and dry, though. Who knew when they'd find their next job? She looked down at the box of leftovers that Shido and Madoka had kindly sent her home with. She wasn't even sure what in the box would be allowable by Akabane's diet, and she certainly didn't want to make him sick by giving him something he wasn't supposed to eat. Giving it to charity sounded like a good idea.

She walked into the Honky Tonk for the second time that afternoon, finding only Natsumi and Paul. "Did they go out to pound the streets for work?" Hevn asked, referring to the empty booths and bar chairs.

"Actually," Paul said without missing a beat or setting down the newspaper that he seemed to be eternally reading, "Someone else came in to offer them a job about twenty minutes after you left."

"Ah, that's good for them then." She set the box on the counter. "Would you hold this in the freezer for them? It's a little 'I'm not angry anymore' gift for them."

She hand her hand on the handle of the door when Paul's voice stopped her in her tracks. "I'm not sure you want to do that, seeing as the job was given to them by another Mediator."


End file.
